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Cricket and World Cup history will bear testimony to the fact that Sri Lanka had played in all the five previous events (the three Prudential,the Reliance and the Benson and Hedges World Cups) but had never threatened to come even anywhere in the vicinity of the semi- finals.
On this occasion they carried away the World Cup with some tenacious and formidable performances laced with the usual fortune that favours a few and which comes in handy.
A beaming and proud Arjuna Ranatunga received the glittering trophy from the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed. This was and remains the only instance of the hosts — joint or several — winning the trophy. It was a fitting dedication to the “Father of Sri Lankan Cricket” the late Gamini Dissanayake who had struggled to get Test Status for Sri Lanka and initiated the move for the island to be the joint hosts for the World Cup.
Dissanayake, educated at Trinity College Kandy and Cambridge University, had been President of the BCCSL, was a lawyer, a politician and a candidate for the Presidency of Sri Lanka who was assassinated by a female LTTE suicide bomber in 1994.
Mrs Srima Dissanayake recalls that she and the family were deeply touched when Arjuna and some of the players came to visit her and show her the Wills World Cup they had brought back from Pakistan.
There were the inevitable changes and adjustments in the format for the event. The number of participants was increased from nine to 12 as three associate members of the ICC — teams from Holland, Kenya and the UAE (comprising expatriates from Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka with a sole denizen Sultan Zarwani as captain) were accommodated.
Once again two groups of six each returned (Round Robin being jettisoned) and the ICC introduced a knockout quarter-finals stage; it was inevitable that Zimbabwe the newest member of the “Test Club” and the three associates would provide practice to the other senior members barring a miracle.
Kenya did cause a major ripple by toppling the might of the West Indies when they dismissed the former two times champions for 93 at Poona to win by a comprehensive margin of 73 runs. The 15 mandatory overs with field restrictions and the 30 yards circle had come into force; and also ICC match referees were inducted to oversee the proceedings, ensure discipline, maintain the dignity and enforce the spirit of the game.
The event had its unfortunate, unsavoury and unpleasant moments which is contrary to sports in general and cricket in particular. There was political turmoil in Sri Lanka who were in the throws of a civil war. Australia and the West Indies refused to travel to the island and forfeit their matches against Sri Lanka on 17th and 26th February at Colombo (the scorecard states “failed to appear” Sri Lanka won “by default”). This resulted in the joint hosts marching into the quarter-finals after winning their matches against India, Zimbabwe and Kenya. They then went on to overwhelm England by five wickets at Faisalabad mainly through the courtesy of Jayasuriya who besides taking two wickets scored that quick fire 82 and was the unanimous choice for Man of the Match Award.
It is a pity that this tournament will be remembered for the ugly incidents which forced the semi-final between India and Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens Kolkata to be abandoned and awarded to Sri Lanka by the match referee Clive Lloyd because of abominable behaviour and rioting by the crowd when India were nearing disaster and defeat. Sri Lanka after a poor start scored 251 thanks to half centuries by the stylish De Silva and the steady Mahnama and useful contributions from Ranatunga and Tillekeratne.
India because of a graceful half-century from Tendulkar were happily poised at 98-2 when the pitch suddenly started taking spin and Jayasuriya with three wickets, and Dharmasena, Murali, and de Silva (one each) reduced them to 120-8 and the writing was on the wall. The Calcutta crowd could not stomach this humiliation, rioting broke out, bottles were hurled on to the ground and the hesian covers were set on fire.
For those of us who were present it was a frightening experience; luckily Radio Pakistan’s commentary booth though in open air was protected by a ledge of the stand above jutting out over us which provided protection against the objects thrown; and we witnessed projectiles of sorts whizzing past but remained unfazed and unhurt. Lloyd ordered the players off the ground with a warning to behave; things seemed to have settled somewhat but no sooner had the players come back on to the field it all restarted. This time it was more intense and Lloyd said enough was enough and awarded the match to Sri Lanka, who went to their hotel visibly shaken but happy to pack their bags for the flight to the finals at the Gaddafi in Lahore.
Paucity of space prevents me from describing the scenes witnessed that night outside the Eden Gardens where the crowds had gone wild with a cocktail of grief, anger, pain and agony; and had resorted to violence. A little personal example may help to illustrate the situation. Fellow commentator Munir Husain (a personality with an adventurous streak), the producer of PBC (a brave bold man) and I (the reluctant coward but team man) decided to take a cab drive to assess the condition of the city in the aftermath of the fiasco. Within fifteen minutes we were hurrying back as the policemen on duty advised us that most roads had been closed and it was not safe to be adventurous under current circumstances. They assured us that there would be better times and opportunities to see the magnificence of this sprawling city.
There are various theories about why this match was forced by the crowd to be abandoned. Remember that for some years t every out of the ordinary or should I say normal situation in cricket had begun to be viewed and regarded with a tinge of suspicion. Tongues had wagged when Wasim Akram had pulled out of the quarter-finals at Bangalore as they did after the Kolkata fiasco; but I pay no credence to such theories unless the evidence is beyond all reasonable doubt. Let us leave it at that for the moment and move on.
The long awaited and much expected final between India and Pakistan did not materialise as the two met in the quarter-final at Bangalore. There were whispers that all may not be well in the Pakistan camp and shortly before the toss Wasim Akram the captain pulled out because of unfitness and the temperamental Aamir Sohail was at the last moment asked to shoulder the burden.
As the scorelines will reveal India scored 287 and Pakistan fell short by 39 runs; India went on to that disastrous defeat and ouster at Kolkata in the semi finals against Sri Lanka. What defied logic in Pakistan’s policy at Bangalore was the treatment meted out to the veteran Javed Miandad, who spent most of the Indian innings guarding the third man boundary and was not even consulted when things seemed to be slipping away. Pakistan’s response began well with a half century from Aamir who was distracted by needling from Prasad who bowled him shortly afterward. Once again Miandad could have been used by pushing him up the batting order but he was made to bat at No.6. Australia having beaten New Zealand in the quarter-final at Madras and West Indies in the semis at Mohali proceeded to Lahore for the final.
The Gaddafi was bursting at the seams for the grand finale. From the number of Sri Lankan flags seen on the ground this match may as well have been played at Colombo, Kandy or Galle. Many of the Pakistani fans became ‘honorary’ Sri Lankans sporting their colours and waving their flags. They raised full throated slogans in favour of the little men from the pearl island and cheered and encouraged them.
But in all fairness they appreciated and applauded the Australians as well. The shrewd Arjuna Ranatunga won the toss and realising that he would not like his team to bat under lights and also keeping the all important dew factor in mind put Australia in. He used his four spinners who between them they accounted for six of the seven Aussie wickets (de Silva 3; Murali, Dharmasena, and Jayasuriya one each) and restricted them to 241 — not quite enough but defendable. Though Sri Lanka lost the openers early, a 125 run partnership for the 3rd wicket between Gurusinha and De Silva took them to 242 with seven wickets and 3.4 overs to spare. Gurusinha was steady and cautious; de Silva was poetic and classical; his century had 13 boundaries — no lofting the ball.
The dew may have had some affect on the Australians who dropped catches they would have held 9 times out of 10 (this was the 10th). McGrath and Warne both went wicket less. De Silva was Man of the Match and the Sri Lankans One-day cricket champions of the world on March 17, 1996. The drizzle in the end dampened the brilliance of the fireworks but every one had thoroughly enjoyed themselves and even the hiccups in organisation and arrangements were forgiven and forgotten. The World Cup had once again been brought back to the sub-continent and that is what mattered. No write-up on the sixth World Cup will be complete without mention, however briefly, of the records made during the event. Sri Lanka ravaged the Kenyan attack to put up a total of 398-5; Aravinda de Silva top scoring with 145; Kenya fought back commendably to make 254-7 giving the match an aggregate of 652.
Against UAE at Rawalpindi Gary Kirsten of South Africa plundered 188 not out (which remains the highest individual score in the World Cup). In the end I am afraid it became quite a embarrassing for our TV commentary team of Tony Lewis, Mike Haysman, Sadiq Mohammad and I.
Sachin Tendulkar registered the highest total tally of 523 runs at the average of 87.16; and we could clearly see what the future had in store for the youngster. The Waugh twins Mark and Steve shared the highest wicket partnership of 207 against Pakistan; and Mark became the first player in World Cups to score two consecutive centuries.
And Javed Miandad became the only player to appear in six World Cups. Now from the sublime to the ridiculous it was in this World Cup that while covering the event for WorldCall TV and Radio Pakistan I was given the opportunity of giving regular reports to the BBC Urdu Service as well as a few for their Hindi Service for the first time — a great experience.
The World Cup tournament returned to England in 1999. Will the Asians continue to dominate or because of eastern generosity will they let someone else have a chance now? Wait and see.
